Bolder ELT project selected under €4.8bn EU net-zero fund

Brussels – A Bolder Industries project for the recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) is among 85 projects in-line to receive grants under a €4.8-billion EU fund to help put “cutting-edge clean technologies into action across Europe.”

Called NextGen thermal tire re-use, Bolder’s project was selected alongside a raft of candidates from the energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy-storage, industrial carbon management, net-zero mobility and building industries.

As announced 23 Oct by the EU Commission, the selected projects are set to enter into operation before 2030 and over their first ten years of operation are expected to reduce emissions by about 476 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

This, it claimed, will contribute to “reducing emissions from those sectors that are particularly difficult to decarbonise, strengthen European industrial manufacturing capacity and reinforce Europe's technology leadership and supply chain resilience.”

The Commission's announcement did not indicate the level of funding that would go to the individual projects selected under the clean-tech support scheme. 

In late 2022, Bolder confirmed plans to build its first European facility at the NextGen District of the Port of Antwerp, with the unit slated for commercial operation in 2024.

To progress the project, Bolder has signed agreements with real estate group Antea Group, project management specialists Cyclops, and construction engineering group OSQB.

The design of the Belgian facility is based on Bolder’s existing plant in Missouri and its second, larger facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Phase 1 of the Antwerp location will house three reactors on site, processing over 3 million ELTs per year into recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil.